ISSACS rising

One of the newest engineering institutes at CWRU is leading the region into the Internet of Things.

Is there a Ring doorbell on your home? Do you wear an activity tracker that counts your steps and heartbeats? Does your manufacturing plant use sensors to monitor key systems and machines?

If so, you’re already touched by the Internet of Things, an emerging technology where routine devices connect to larger networks to enhance their impact and efficiency. So promising is IoT in manufacturing alone that some experts see a “fourth industrial revolution” on the horizon.

One of the newest institutes to spring from the Case School of Engineering is poised to seize the moment. ISSACS, the Institute for Smart, Secure and Connected Systems, hopes to make CWRU a research leader in this interconnected world.

“Developing new courses and labs is a priority for ISSACS, because preparing our students for a connected, digital future, regardless of their major, is critical,” said Nick Barendt ’95, MS ’98, an adjunct professor in the Case School of Engineering and the executive director of ISSACS.

The institute was born in 2016 at CSE to develop expertise in the emerging Internet of Things, often defined as the array of internet-connected objects and systems of everyday life. IoT is expected to impact both industries and communities, government and medicine as it creates new troves of data and ways to act upon that data.

To create the institute, Case faculty collaborated with the Case Alumni Association and members of the Silicon Valley Task Force, including computing pioneer Donald Knuth ’60, who suggested adding the focus on internet security. Originally, the title embraced only smart and connected systems. “Don Knuth said, ‘You’re missing something,’” recalled Ken Loparo, PhD ’77, the founding academic director of ISSACS. “I said, ‘What?” He said, ‘Security.’ That’s how it became ISSACS with two Ss.”

In 2018, ISSACS was promoted to a university-wide institute to better coordinate efforts across campus and with regional partners. For example, ISSACS is a charter member of the IoT Collaborative, a partnership with Cleveland State University that aims to use IoT to enhance the economy and the quality of life in Northeast Ohio.

Since its inception, ISSACS has attracted about $15 million in research funding. The Cleveland Foundation has invested significantly in capacity building – providing money for new engineering courses and recruiting and hiring faculty with IoT expertise. As a result, the institute supports a growing array of student and faculty projects that aim to apply IoT to solve problems and create jobs: • Working with internet provider DigitalC, a Case visiting scholar is trying to close the digital divide in Cleveland by building out a low-cost broadband network. The pandemic showed this to be a critical need as urban children were thrown into remote learning with internet access in their homes.

• In collaboration with Cuyahoga

County and the Fund for Our

Economic Future, Case researchers plan to apply technology to address the “spatial mismatch” separating city residents from job centers and

try to devise solutions. • The U.S. Department of Energy is supporting an effort by Loparo to identify ways to use smartmanufacturing technologies to improve productivity and energy efficiency at a local factory.

The early success of ISSACS is gratifying to Loparo, who helped to create the institute while chair of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Developing new courses and labs is a priority for ISSACS, because preparing our students for a connected, digital future, regardless of their major, is critical.”

He brought Barendt to campus from the Cleveland software industry in 2015 to begin teaching Introduction to Connected Devices and to marshal expertise. Six years later, that class is part of an IoT ecosystem spreading beyond campus.

“ISSACS builds on the foundational technologies of IoT — sensing, networking and communications, data analytics, security, control and decision-making — to fuel the digital transformation in communities and industry,” Loparo said. “New courses and projects with community and industry partners provides unique opportunities for our students and faculty.”

ISSACS was showcased in the university’s “Think Big: Institutes and Centers Campaign” in February. Learn more about the institute and the campaign at case.edu/issacs/.